By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Wolf Blitzer in 1990.
The son of Holocaust survivors who settled in Buffalo in 1949, Wolf Blitzer arrived at CNN in 1990, after years of covering the Middle East and Washington for the Jerusalem Post and occasionally for The Buffalo Evening News.
He was named after his grandfather who died in a Nazi camp. His family came to Buffalo when he was an infant and his father, David, found work in the Bethlehem Steel coke ovens.
Later, David Blitzer opened Blitzer’s Delicatessen on Hertel Avenue, before becoming a contractor and President of Forbes Homes.
Wolf Blitzer in his Ken West days.
The family moved from North Buffalo to Kenmore, and Wolf Blitzer played linebacker at Ken West before studying history at UB.
He fell into a job with Reuters because he could speak both Hebrew and English — and in the role of journalist, the historian made history.
When Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Washington, Wolf Blitzer was the first Jewish reporter to ever ask him a question, about the possibility of allowing Jewish and Israeli reporters to cover Egypt. Sadat later said the question resonated with him and helped him find his way to peace talks with Israel.
“Wolf was the kind of young man who always pushed himself,” said David Blitzer of his son. “He always wanted to be something. Look at him now. Only in America.”
Wolf Blitzer became a national figure during CNN’s coverage of the 1991 Gulf War, at a time when CNN was the only 24-hour cable news channel and he was the Pentagon correspondent. As is often the case in TV news, it wasn’t just his solid reporting that gained him acclaim — his unassuming manner and unusual name made him the fodder of Johnny Carson and other comedians.
Wolf Blitzer won an Emmy for his coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. He moved into the studio for CNN in 1999, and he has hosted “The Situation Room” since 2005.
